Tuesday, September 24, 2013

hey, pelican!

We headed back to Lake Manyas around 8:00 in the morning to spy on its feathered beasts while waiting for the Kuşcenneti Milli Parkı to open. The area became a national park in 1959, and is home to 266 species of birds, 178 of which pass through during migration. Needless to say, Kuşcenneti Park is a very important place, and I was thrilled by the park's cleanliness and beauty. Often in Turkey, natural areas are treated like trash bins by the public, but Kuşcenneti Park was truly cared for. The information center was lovely, and the man who gave us our tickets was excited to show off the park's remote live cameras, which were fixed on the lake. Families trickled in, borrowing binoculars from the nice man, and mindfully headed through the little woods to the observation tower, where you can get a magnificent view of the birds.

I was delighted to discover that the observation tower was made with an Ottoman touch— it resembled an old wooden yalı, and once inside, Pedro found an owl pellet and feathers, which lead me to believe that the tower itself offered shelter. We set up the telescope, and were moved to silence.

2 comments:

The sad thing is I've been all around the world but haven't seen a lot of places in my own country,one of them is manyas kus cenneti, Thank you for sharing this beatiful pictures and sketches with us. Have a wonderful day.